Convertible bag and apron



Dec. 19, 1950 PEEK 2,534,473

CONVERTIBLE BAG AND APRON Filed March 29, 1948 Patented Dec. 19, 1950 Retain;

Percy' Ke nt'Bag on, Inc., Kansas City, Mo; KppIi'EaJtioii MaicliZD, 194s; sesame. 17,663

.iiivnt relates broadly to .the manufacing of o diners in the form of ba'gsgpartiquI fly those made from relatively stron fabric". The primary aim being to. produce a novel tag that is easily trans'formable intooan article of use as an apron, after the bag has been emptied and the same laid open to a relatively flat extended c'ondi'tiorii;

It is" common knowledge; particularly in the field of stock; feeds; hour and the like, that sales are iiio'iaseq substantially Vvhenlthe bags cOnthe' sold product are made from fabrics having s'iiitable colors and designs formed therein; since the ultimate consumer may then utilize soon bags by converting the same into articles of clothing, oiiitaiiis, table cloths and the like. This p'i'esent day universal practice has become quite popular this particular trade and retailers and whosesalers alike agree that sales aresubstantially enhanced thereby;. I n is trio most important object of this inven-jnon, thiefoi; to advance a step further by not only forming the bags from .a fabric material having the variable colors of the design preformed therein, but also having a suitable article of merchandise such as clothing prefabricated and ready for use after the bag is emptied, moane and the tempbrary stitching thereof removed.

Another important object of this invention is i the provision "of a cloth bag l'i'avin'g temporary stitiz'hin'g readily removable along at least three edges thereof; said bag presenting an apron when the an stitching is removed and the bag laid open, "ready for use. i

w A furtherbbje'ct'o'f this invention is to provide "a bag formed from s'singi e piece of fabric folded u on "itself aiong a m'edi'umline to present a pair of facing panel's, each of which has items 7 prefgrmed al ong pertain edges thereof and tie tape threaded through one of the hems for attaching the same in the form of an apron to the body .of a wearer when the bag is disassembled .with respectto stitching temporarily homing the panels together.

Other .obiectsoi this invention include the particular disposition of the aforesaid hems, the way inlwhich the temporary chain stitch is Iformed onithe bagkthe .way in which the tying v tapes are disposed so. as not torjinterfere with made in accordance "sid'eper'spective view of a com- 2' III-III of Fig. 1, looking in the direction or the arrow. v

..Fig.:. 4 is across-sectional view taken tonne IVIV of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;.and 4 1 Y Fig. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional tiew taken on line VV of Fig. 2. H

The bagper se shown in Fig. l of the draw; ing may either be formed by a pair of opposed facing panels, or as i1lustratd, iror'ri a single piece of material folded upon itself on a medium line lElto present a pair of panels l2 and M. This folding construction is Quite conventional and obviously the preferred form of producing bags of this character. When these panels l2 and [4 are so folded and in relative face-to-face relationship, the edges thereof are all contiguous and held together by linesof stitching I6, l8, and 20. This stitching is ofthe readily removable type such as the usual chain stitch. Ordi' narily the lines of stitching l6 and I8 are formed in theb ags at the time of manufacture and the line of stitching sewed along the normally uppermost edge of the bag after the same has been filled witl't flour, feed or like material. Before the panels l2 and 14 are folded to the condition shown in Fig. 1, the single piece 'of material has two of its opposed edges folded upon itself to present hems 22 and 24. These hemsthat are clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 are held by lines of permanent stitching 26 and 28. Also, before folding of the single piece of material to the bag forming condition, one end thereof is folded upon itself in the manner illustrated in Fig. 5 of the drawing and a pair of spaced-apart lines of permanent stitching 25 and 28 are formed therealong. 'Ifhis stitching 26 and 28 presents a pair of loops 30 and 32. Ah elongated tying tape of double thickness and having a longitudinal-marginal line'of permanent stitching 3451s preformed and, threaded into the loop 32. This tying tape, designated by the numeral 36, is longer than thewidth of the :piece of material forming panels [2 and it and has its ends extending therebeyond and from the loop .32 at each. end thereof in the manner illustrated injFig. 2. j i

'If desired, this tying tape '36 may be tacked to the panels '12 and I 4 to prevent slipping therefrom. i

After the pieceof flexible material hasbeen s0 formed with the hen'1s'Z2 and Z4, the loops '30 and 32, and the tie tape in place, the above described folding takes place to present the pa'nels I2 and 14. The lines of chain stitching f6 and It are then sewed to join together the proximal marginal edges of the panels lialnd l l. *Itfs noted, both fining-S. 1*'and=3,that the stitchlng l B is disposed inwardly from the hems 22 and 24 and the permanent stitching 26 and 28 forming such hems. Obviously, this line of stitching l8 could be disposed to join together thehems 22 and 24, but since these hems are relatively narrow, a stronger and more desirable bag is presented by having this line of stitching l8 disposed slightly inwardly from the proximal edge of the bag.

The lowermost edge of 38 of the initially fiat body may have a hem formed thereon if necessary, but ordinarily this edge constitutes a permanent uncut, selvage portion of the material from which the bag is formed. Accordingly, the line of stitching 28 which is placed on the bag after the same has been filled may be positioned quickly and easily without the necessity of any concern as to interference with other permanent stitching, hems or loops.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, the line of stitching 18 along the bottom of the bag and along the top of the apron joins together the loops 30 of the panels l2 and [4. Four thicknesses, therefore, are presented at the bottom of the bag and consequently an extremely strong construction is presented.

When the bag is formed in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1, the ends of the apron tie-tape 36 are tied together to present a bow 42. This bow 40 does not interfere with the normal use of the bag, adds a novel overall appearance thereto and readily suggests to the purchasing public the purpose of the bag after its normal use has been completed.

It is clear from the foregoing that after the bag has been emptied, the owner thereof may easily and quickly remove the chain stitching i6, is, and 20 whereby the panels l2 and 14 may be laid open to the condition illustrated in Fig. 2.

The openings caused by the stitching i6, i8, and 29 have been shown in Fig. 2 as at 22 exaggerated in size, but in normal use such openings would not be readily visible or have any effect upon the appearance of the apron.

After such chain stitching has been removed, it is apparent that the apron is ready for use by simply washing, or otherwise cleaning, if necessary.

An attractive appearance is presented along the top of the apron because of the disposition of the tie tape as inwardly from the top edge thereof and because of the extended loop portion 39, as shown in Fig. 2. This uppermost edge may be gathered before the apron is placed in use in the usual manner.

It is also to be understood that the fabric from which the panels 12 and i-i is made shall have various designs formed therein and be of many and varied attractive colors.

Very little advertising will be necessary, because the consuming public will soon become aware of the novel construction of the bag and the simple way in which the same can be converted to a useful article of merchandise.

While only one modification of the present in-- vention has been illustrated and described, it is readily apparent that articles other than aprons may be preformed in the material from which the bag is made, without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A bag readily convertible to an apron, said bag comprising a pair of identical panels disposed in face-to-face relationship and formed from a single piece of flexible material folded upon itself to present one edge of the bag; quickly removable stitching joining all proximal marginal edges of said panels; and means on the both panels for attaching the same to the body of a wearer when all of said stitching is removed and the panels laid open and unfolded in an apron-forming condition.

2. A bag readily convertible to an apron, said bag comprising a pair of substantially identical panels disposed in face-to-face relationship and formed from a single piece of flexible material folded upon itself to present one edge of the bag; quickly removable stitching joining proximal marginal edges of said panels; and means on the panels for attaching the same to the body of a wearer when said stitching is removed and the panels laid open in an apron-forming condition, certain of said edges of the panels having a hem permanently formed thereon, said stitching joining certain of the hems.

3. A bag readily convertible to an apron, said bag comprising a pair of substantially identical panels disposed in faceto-face relationship and formed from a single piece of flexible material folded upon itself to present one edge of the bag; quickly removable stitching joining proximal marginal edges of said panels; and means on the panels for attaching the same to the body of a wearer when said titching is removed and the panels laid open in an apron-forming condition, certain of said edges of the panels having a hem permanently formed thereon, the hem formed on one edge of the panels extending from said folded edge of the bag forming a loop, said means comprising a tying tape threaded into said loop.

4. A bag readily convertible to an apron, said bag comprising an initially flat fabric piece folded upon itself along a median line to present a pair of facing panels, the fold constituting one edge of the bag; temporary stitching adjacent the remaining edges of the bag and joining the panels; permanently stitched hems formed at the edge of each panel opposite to said fold; one of the other edges of each panel being rebent upon itself; a pair of spaced rows of permanent stitching joining the rebent portions to corresponding panels to present a pair of loops; and a tying tape passing through the innermost loop for attaching the panels to a wearers body when said temporary stitching is removed and the panels laid open.

RICHARD K. PEEK.

GEES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 274,736 Betrick Mar. 27, 1883 1,403,287 Brisoine Jan. 10, 1922 1,795,417 Allen Mar. 10, 1931 2,416,747 Geiiner Mar. 4, 1947 2,437,185 Brady et al Mar. 2, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 22,318 Great Britain Nov. 10, 1914 256,155 Great Britain Aug. 5, 1926 

